Panthers' Thomas a save short against old team

Panthers' goalie loses 3-2 against Boston

October 17, 2013|Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel Columnist

SUNRISE — - The shot in the final minute wasn't much of one on Tim Thomas, a change-up compared to the bullets he had stopped most of Thursday night, a dribbler compared to the snipers he'd kept the Panthers in the game battling.

That only added to the pain as he stood at his locker a few minutes after the Panthers' 3-2 loss, his face in mid-wince, his words allowing, "That one hurt."

It was the Panthers' new goalie Thomas against Boston on Thursday night, Thomas on a crowded night of football and even a Heat-Nets preseason appetizer, making hockey part of the conversation.

That was the big storyline in Boston and through the greater hockey world, anyway. Thomas played goal for the first time against the former Bruins team he led to a championship and later walked out on, a Ricky Williams on skates.

The South Florida storyline was smaller and different. It was of a team trying to scrape its way into relevance this early season both on and off the ice by any means possible.

The on-ice part was working, too. After two first-period Boston goals, the Panthers settled down with Thomas the biggest part of that. He stopped 37 shots, stopped star Zdeno Chara's slap shot, stopped the Bruins' Jarome Iginla as he broke in alone.

He stopped everything those final two periods except that weak backhand from out front by Reilly Smith with 58.7 seconds left.

"The way the stick was angled and the puck not laying exactly flat, I thought he was going high blocker on me,'' Thomas said. He shook his head. "Man, that was a tough one."

This night also provided a tough glimpse into how a franchise that desperately needs to win and equally to sell tickets can be at odds with itself. That part of the storyline didn't start Thursday before a half-filled BB&T Center.

Nor did it start Wednesday in dueling team announcements. An hour after coach Kevin Dineen listed Thomas as "questionable" for the game due to a lingering groin injury, the team's Twitter account said Thomas would, "start."

That tweet was quickly erased. The next one on the team account said Thomas would "play." Dineen hates to give advance notice of his starting goalie and said before Thursday's game the tweets didn't come from him.

"Yes, that's the first time someone else announced who was going to start,'' he said.

The Dolphins once had such issues when Tony Sparano was trying to win games and CEO Mike Dee was marketing a Florida Gators reunion when Tim Tebow was in town to sell tickets.

Sparano didn't want to make it a public issue then, just as Dineen didn't now. He said he had "no problem" with the tweet and moved forward with the game.

All this is an outgrowth of the Panthers marketing department forming a, "Tim Thomas Pack," a three-game ticket package that included both Panthers games against Boston and another selected game.

So this tweet was telling buyers of the Thomas pack their guy was indeed starting, as well as an attempt to drum up more ticket sales. Again: the Panthers have to sell more tickets. And again: They have to win more games.

Thomas, to be sure, is a great addition for this team. He provides a proven anchor at the most important position. Back-up Jacob Markstrom needs more time, as his 3.60 goals-against-average shows in six games this year.

Markstrom can learn from Thomas, too, as Boston's Tuukka Rask did for three years before becoming a star. That's the plan, anyhow, for the standings and the business of it.

Thomas showed the personal side of the sport afterward, standing at his locker and showing how that ending still hurt. Yes, it was strange playing against his former teammates, he said. But in the end the worst part was that final, ugly shot that went in.